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Drive-Ins Are Back, but It’s a Secret

By Richard S. Chang June 17, 2009 7:47 amJune 17, 2009 7:47 am

MobMov.orgMobMov held its first drive-in of the season on San Francisco’s Treasure Island last weekend.

The drive-in-movie theater celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. As the story goes, Richard Hollingshead Jr. experimented with the format in 1933 by showing movies in his driveway in Riverton, N.J. He hung a bed sheet between two trees and placed a Kodak film projector on the roof of his car.

After a rise in popularity through the 1950s, interest in the drive-in theater steadily waned (there aren’t any left in the New York metropolitan area). But over the last few years a new style of drive-in has cropped up, aided in part by the increased use (and the drop in price) of digital projectors, and it’s not too different from Hollingshead’s early experiments.

They’re called “guerilla drive-ins,” or mobile movies, because there is no permanent theater. Organizers screen the movies on warehouse walls and in parking lots. And screenings don’t usually take place in the same location twice. Viewers sign up for a service that e-mails them with the time and location a few days ahead of each screening. The movies are generally free, and organizers accept donations to fund the few hundred dollars it takes to secure the location and projector.

MobMov.orgA MobMov screening from 2007.

Bryan Kennedy, 28, an iPhone developer in San Francisco, runs MobMov.org a site that lists more than 240 guerrilla drive-in chapters around the world.

He started MobMov in 2005 while a student at University of California, Berkeley. Using a digital projector he had just bought for his home and an inexpensive FM transmitter to send the sound to a car’s stereo, he showed “The Graduate” with no ambitions of grandeur.

“It was very organic,” he said. “There were three cars at the first show. Then some people said I should come up with a name and a Web site. And then random people started calling me about the next screening.”

Eric Kurland was one of those random people. “He lived in L.A. and asked if I was set up to do chapters in different cities,” Mr. Kennedy said. All of a sudden, the Hollywood chapter of MobMov was born. Today, Mr. Kennedy’s site includes a tutorial on how enterprising people can start their own MobMov: how to set up an outdoor theater, what to look for in a digital projector, how to hook up a projector to a car, where to buy an FM transmitter, legal issues and more.

The roots of the guerrilla drive-in movement has been traced to Santa Cruz, Calif., where Wes Modes started a collective to screen outdoor movies around 2001.

A Times story from 2004 described a very renegade process with primitive equipment and little regard for the law. In those early days, the Santa Cruz Guerrilla Drive-In trespassed on property — looking out for police — and did not secure rights to show the movies.

“It was definitely an inspiration,” Mr. Kennedy said. “It was the name — guerrilla drive-in — that really inspired this.”

Mr. Kennedy went to one of the Santa Cruz Guerrilla Drive-Ins before starting MobMov. “It’s really cool. You know you sit on the grass and watch a movie outdoors,” he said. He also explained that what he wanted to create was a more authentic drive-in experience (i.e., watching movies from inside a car), though he had never been to one himself.

“Drive-ins are interesting because it’s a customizable experience,” he explained. “You can bring your kid, who may spend the entire time crying in the back seat, but that’s fine — you roll up your window. Or you can roll down your windows and interact with the other people. It’s up to you.”

Every MobMov screening has an intermission, during which audience members can interact, which Mr. Kennedy says is his favorite part of MobMov.

Last weekend, MobMov showed collection of short films from local filmmakers. It was projected against the wall of a hangar on a decommissioned military base on San Francisco’s Treasure Island to an audience of around 50 cars, Mr. Kennedy said. This Saturday, he plans to show “The Sting,” the 1973 classic with Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

Mr. Kennedy said he expected to show a movie every other week — workload permitting — and has upgraded his equipment considerably since that first screening in 2005. But he still doesn’t charge a fee. He has tried to come up with a business plan to monetize the growth of the MobMov movement, but he said he hasn’t figured out a way to accommodate profits with the good-natured vibe of the experience. “Nothing seems to fit,” he said. At least it doesn’t cost much to put on.

“My biggest expenses are the movie-licensing fees,” he said. “And I rent a car to run the projector. I live in the city so I don’t have a car.”

Drive-Ins are great and never truly died. We have two in our area that are originals and still open. They are a terrific family entertainment and, I predict, are on their way back in more abundance. Doesn;t cost a fortune for the family to go to the ‘movies’ together. ‘Cinemas’ have out priced themselves making it much too costly for a family’s night out together. Drive-Ins fill the bill very nicely.

This is an idea I had given to the government to use in Iraq–at random and unexpected places/neighborhoods the Iraqi citizens would be shown movies –uplifting American subtitled/translated ones –it would have engendered good will etc.– especially if the films were selected carefully–crowds would have come out of the woodwork, or in the case of Iraq, the plaster :) I wonder if the military ever used this idea?

It’s reflective of the classic New Yorker magazine cover/poster provincial view of the New York metropolitan area to say that there is no drive-in in the area. The Warwick Drive-In in Warwick, NY in suburban Orange County has been here and going strong for as long as I can remember–and I’m 51 years old. Come on up for a flick and get to know the rest of the New York area outside of the limited scope displayed here.

For those people pining for the “good old days” of drive-in movie, I guess this might be a good thing. Or for the few younger folk who have never had the experience.

But I thought drive-in movies went away for a reason. It seems like an inefficient model to me.

Number one, you have weather concerns (where I live, inclement weather can pop up at a moment’s notice). Number two, you can’t fit as many people in the “theater,” because cars are still (barely) larger than rear ends in seats. Number three, in my memory, the acoustics and sound quality in general were deplorable — compared to the fantastic surround sound in most theaters now. Plus, you had road noise in the background. Number four, the visual quality never could compete with the indoor screen.

These are just the main things that pop into my head immediately upon hearing “drive-in movies.”

What is wrong with young people today? “Bring the kids?” “Interact with other people?” Have they no clue what went on in the cars at drive-ins? The only person you were interacting with was with your girlfriend and a kid in the backseat would only get in the way.

You are correct that there are many technical disadvantages with drive-ins, but, that’s not the point at all!

It’s sharing the movie experience in a low-tech way. It’s also about meeting other people, since drive-ins are by nature a more social event than going to a regular movie theater. I think in our “connected” age, we could all use some real face-to-face connection with people.

By the way, newer drive-ins emit the audio via radio waves so that each spectator can tune in via their car’s stereo, so, that can greatly resolve the sound quality problem.

There are 4 or 5 drive-ins in central Indiana, within an hour of Indianapolis. Today, the sound is broadcast on a low-watt FM channel so the sound is as good as your car stereo. There are concession stands but most allow/encourage people to bring their own food, there are also picnic tables, play areas for the kids. Admission is cheap but even if it was the same as for an in-door theatre, bringing your own food makes it a huge bargain (and you don’t have to eat all the junk theatres put on the popcorn). The last time my wife and I took our daughter to a movie, we spent alot more on soda and popcorn than we did on the tickets. Drive-ins can be economically feasible because they don’t have all the overhead of an in-door cinema–people bring their own seats.

I recently completed a documentary about movie projectionists called Behind the Glass. My interest in the topic was sparked by my first ever visit to a drive-in theater, Bengie’s Drive-In outside of Baltimore, MD. D. Vogel, the owner and operator of the theater is such a character and he more than embodies the surviving spirit of drive-in theaters. I ended up profiling him and a handful of other projectionists, all shot on beautiful 16mm. If you’re interested in seeing clips from the film, visit the website: //www.behindtheglass.com

This sounds like a great inexpensive way to have a good time…which is why the MPAA will try to shut them all down within months of this article’s printing.

Knowing our justice system, the cops will probably taze you and the judge will be pressured to make you an example.

Actually…knowing the MPAA, it will be a private security force armed with guns and tear gas. Sure your laughing, but the MPAA has already used the Homeland Security agency to crack down on this sort of folly.

There is a drive-in north of where I live in Fulton, NY. The prices are affordable and you can pay one price to see 3 movies in a night (we usually stay for just 2). The kids love playing in the field between movies and the food at the concession is great!

Drive-ins aren’t about superior sound or digital picture quality. It’s about spending time with your family, interacting with other people and being entertained for a reasonable price. The cost for my family of 6 (2 adults, 4 children) to see a movie at a Drive-in is $18. We all know what $18 will get you at the theater…

I take issue with your assertion there are no drive-ins in the metropolitan area. I live in Warwick, NY, which is a little more than an hour from midtown, and we have a thriving drive in. Of course, there are some differences to drive ins from childhood, most notably listening to the movie through a radio station as opposed to the “speakers.”

What defines a movement? The first ad hoc drive-in that I recall was on the roof of Austin’s Dobie Garage in the early 90’s, This involved an actual film projector tied to the roof of a car, and was publicized in advance. There was 2001’s “Bike-in” theater projected against the side of a bike shop in the summer. This, I think, was two college kids in their Mom’s beat-up Volvo, a video projector and an extension cord, for several months. Saw the “Wild Bunch”. It was hot out.//www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:81726

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